


I Made a Move

by tcarroll_12



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 17:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30143019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tcarroll_12/pseuds/tcarroll_12
Summary: Alec and Ellie have just gotten married and are celebrating their honeymoon at the cabin they took their mental health break in after Alec's suicide attempt. Alec tells her a small, rather embarrassing secret.
Relationships: Alec Hardy & Ellie Miller, Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	I Made a Move

They lay on the pallet swing in comfortable, peaceful silence for a while, equally enjoying the quiet atmosphere, the cool breeze carrying the woody scent of fresh pine and cedar, the birds calling out to one another near and far. Ellie kept the gentle swaying momentum going, softly pushing off against the wooden post at her fingertips when they were in danger of stopping completely. After a few moments, Alec chuckled quietly to himself. Ellie tilted her head back to look at him. “What?”

Alec laughed again, a bit more this time, and the soft smile on his lips turned into a dopey grin. He bit his lip and said, “Did I ever tell you I made a move on Becca Fisher, way back when? _Before_ we found out she was seeing Mark,” he clarified.

Ellie turned her body so she could stare at him more easily, eyebrows raised. _“Becca?”_ she parroted, eyes lighting up in delight. “No, you absolutely didn’t, how did that work out?”

He thought for a moment, then snorted. “Awful, just as you’d expect. She shot me down pretty quickly. It was kind of harsh, actually.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully as Ellie favored him with the particular sort of giggle he adored. When he remained silent, she poked his side and demanded playfully he tell her how it went down. With a sigh, he complied, but prefaced it with a statement: “Alright, look, it was early on in Danny’s case, so… whatever I tell ye, ye can’t be mad at me, solid?”

Now it was Ellie’s turn to snort as she laced her fingers through his. “Fine, fine, just tell me.”

After a moment’s contemplation about where to begin, Alec sighed dramatically and told her the whole thing: “Right. Remember when you invited me to dinner?”

“The really awkward one?” They shared a laugh.

“Aye, when you threatened to throw a cup of piss at me,” Alec recalled.

“Aww, I do remember that!” She laughed harder. “Oh, you were getting on my last nerve! And then you showed up in a suit and gave us a speech on why you hated first names and all that!” She was laughing so hard, she could barely get the words out at the end.

“Och, aye, I remember,” Alec said with a hint of chagrin, waiting for her giggles to die down before continuing. “Well, as you can recall, before the pacemaker, my heartbeat would go erratic sometimes, and I’d have to take a pill to stop the arrhythmia.”

“Yep, I remember.”

He sucked in a breath. “Well… after the dinner, I had another incident. Barely made it upstairs and to ma bathroom. But I was out of pills.”

Now Ellie stared at him with consternation, the mirth evaporating like mist. “What happened?”

“Passed out,” he said simply. “Woke up once for a second in the ambulance, and then the next time I actually woke up, I was in hospital, an’ Becca was there waitin’ fer me tae come round.”

Ellie’s soft brown eyes widened even more. “Who found you?”

“She did,” he answered. “Apparently the people in the room below me called the front desk to complain about the banging.”

“The banging,” she repeated in disbelief.

“Aye,” he said with a short laugh. “Apparently when a collapse lifeless onto the floor and crack ma fool head on the tile, a do it louder than deemed polite.”

Ellie shook her head. “Rude, but I guess it was a good thing they did.” Alec grunted in agreement. “So what happened next?”

“Ah…” He sucked the corner of his mouth in, and admitted sheepishly, “I checked maself out and came to work.”

Ellie gasped as she remembered, and thumped the back of her hand on his stomach. “You little—you told me you slipped in the shower!!”

“A _told_ ye ye couldn’t get mad!” he protested, lightly pushing a finger against the tip of her nose. “An’ it wasn’t a complete lie, a _did_ fall in the general area where the shower was—”

“Ugh,” she groaned. “Move on quick, knob.”

Alec laughed. “Alright. That’s the worst of it, a promise.” He cleared his throat. “So, later on that night, after I’d got off work an’ was in the room, she came up to talk to me, an’ tell me about the discount, an’ the press bein there. She mentioned how it was stressful runnin’ the business by herself, I asked her how she relaxed, an’ then a said, ‘D'ye wanna relax a bit here, with me?’” Then he fell silent, torturing Ellie til she poked him in the ribs. “Well??”

He grinned down at her and said flatly, “She said, an’ a quote, ‘Oh, God no!’” He added in the laugh of disbelief she’d given at the end as well, just as he remembered.

Ellie clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. “Oh, you poor thing!” she giggled. “That’s awful! Did she really laugh at the end like that too?”

“Aye, the whole bit,” he affirmed. “In her defense, she apparently was scared a would _collapse_ on her again—” That was too much for Ellie; she turned away, laughing so hard she was silent.

“Alright, it weren’ _that_ funny!” the inspector protested, mildly irked at her level of giddiness. This only made her laugh even harder til she was fighting for breath, gulping in air only to wheeze it out in laughter. Alec sighed in mock disgust and slid his arm out from underneath her to fold them both over his chest. His wife whined in protest and draped herself over his skinny torso, still laughing, and Alec stretched forward and kissed her, burying his slender hands in her messy curls. Aye, he could get used to this, he thought with a smile.


End file.
